Hey guys! My apologies for not being as diligent as I should be with updates on our season. Things have been as crazy as a suburban town could get. Spring break, Easter, vacations, homework, training and more training. Unfortunately, I did not participate in the vacation part of things, but I managed to have a little bit of fun in good old Palatine. Collectively, our team decided that we would not take the trip down to Top Times. We figured that we would end on the high note of winning the MSL Indoor Conference. The coaches, as well as the girls, were pleased with the team results and times. This was definitely a stand out meet in the season. We had unbelievable performances from younger and older girls across the board. With a variety of girls scoring in their events, we managed to pull off yet another MSL title. After this amazing victory, we decided to chilout a little bit so that our bodies and minds could get some proper recovery. But as a veteran of the Palatine program, I know better to assume that the following week would be as breeze. In fact, it was the exact opposite. With the whole spring break to train, strong windshields accompanied Chicago’s infamous weather. While all of our class mates were poolside sipping fruity drinks, the Palatine Track team was fighting against the gusts of Mother Nature.
After we went through a tough spring break, our coaches thought that we deserved a little fun. Not that workouts can’t be fun, but sometimes we just need a change of pace. Our last workout was some 300s and 200s, and quite challenging. After we finished, we headed for the pool to do our cool down. The long day of practice concluded with the coaches jumping off the diving boards, and hiding candy around the pool to celebrate Easter. It was a bitter sweet ending to my last spring break practice as a Pirate.
Alright, I am just going to skip ahead a week and take you guys to the beginning of outdoor track season. Once again, the weather was not in our favor. Shocker, I know. Little did I know that the first meet of the year meant that the QUAD had finally made its way outdoors. The QUAD has been a tradition in our program for many years. The workout/ races (whatever you want to call them) consist of four events. If one is running the distance QUAD, they are in for an unpleasant surprise. The meet is kicked off with a leg of the 4x8 followed by the two mile. The two mile is supposed to be relaxed tempo pace, but if you are a runner on the palatine distance team, there is no such thing as relaxed. Whether it is the screaming on the sidelines from Currins or Parks, or the unspoken competition radiating off of your teammate next to you, relaxing is most often nonexistent. The next race is the 800. On our team we have a modo that we repeat when we have two reps left in a workout, “One more…and then one more.” In the QUAD, the 800 is a tad difficult due to the fact that the race before was a pretty fast two mile. With the special modo in every distance girl’s head at the starting line, the 800 became a little bit easier. But there was one thing lingering in the back of everyone’s mind throughout that 800: the 1600. The 1600 was all out, which is exciting. This was the moment where everyone puts their complaints and shivers from the cold aside, and gear up to face the last challenge of the QUAD. Needless to say, all of the distance girls did an amazing job of keeping their cool and having a fun time throughout the four races. As for me, I roughed my way through the mid-distance QUAD, which is equipped with the 4x8, 800, 400, and 4x4. I ran in the distance QUAD last year, so I knew the pain my teammates were going through. I was working on a little bit quicker things that day, but I sure did miss running the 1600 and going guts out. But I am not worried because there certainly are many more opportunities to experience something similar in future meets. At the end of the meet, we were all were happy to shout YOQO (You Only QUAD Once).
Well, that just about sums up the past month. I will try to have shorter entries on a weekly basis so that I won’t bore you all too much with these really long novels! Thanks!